I know these type of posts are not in short supply, but I feel like if I put it out here to the world, it will really help me to not pick.

I've had acne troubles only on my chin since I was 16-17, and I'm now 23. The short version is that I am so insanely close to having clear skin. Through some big diet changes and going all natural on the topical front, I rarely get big, under the skin spots that hang around for a long time anymore. My only real issues are small whiteheads as my closed comedones purge themselves and hyperpigmentation/red marks left behind which I'm fine with. If my skin is flat but still a little red, it doesn't bother me.

I still have the fear that those big, stubborn pimples will start to pop back up, which is probably why I always scrutinize my face so hard. Those are the ones that really make me feel powerless.

For a week and a half I've had a soft lump under my skin on my left chin area, but it wasn't visible on the surface. I'd done a great job just leaving it alone and hoping to let it run its course. Then, for no real reason, yesterday evening I just attacked my face in the mirror. A few tiny whiteheads I'd been trying to leave alone and that under the skin bump. I got some gunk out of it for sure, but today I'm left with a nasty, bright red spot where yesterday there was clear, normal skin (on the surface at least). I was so pissed at myself and worried it might cause my spots to pop up around it. Let's hope not, but we'll see.

Anyhow, I have several big events coming up, one in two weeks, and then a wedding at the end of March. I'm also moving in with my boyfriend in March. I really think that I'm at the point where my skin would be 95% clear if I could just stop messing with it. My goal is to stop picking/scratching/prodding/etc to work towards having clear skin for my upcoming events so that I can enjoy them and stop worrying about my skin.

I am the EXACT same way, I just can't leave it alone. Once you start, you just can't back down until the job is completely finished haha. Picking is the worst, you always think you're doing your skin a favour until after you're done and it looks completely destroyed.

So, it's been about two weeks since my original post and i wanted to give an update. I have only picked onces in those two weeks, and only on a whitehead that was super ready for it. All others I left alone and they've rather quickly dried up on their own and gone away. Much less noticeable than an ugly red spot from picking.

My skin is looking much better overall, more calm and happy.

One thing I did to help with the urge to pick was to think about how my skin feels when I go to bed. If I pick, it was only in the evenings or at night, which usually meant me going to bed with red, angry, throbbing skin. It didn't feel nice and usually made my anxiety worse wondering what that irritated skin would look like in the morning.

When I don't pick, I got to sleep with my skin feeling calm, even if I have a spot on it. I just feels smoother and healthier. It's a much nicer feeling to go to sleep to.

I also realized that as embarrassing as it is to go out with acne on my face, it's even more worse feeling to go out with picked spots. Acne is something that we can't really help, and I think most people we interact with each day don't really care or notice if we have spots - it happens. But if there are places on my face that I've obviously picked at, I think people will notice that more or think it is more strange than just a pimple.

I hope this can help anyone struggling. Be strong! It gets better. I'll continue to update, and I hope my skin just keeps getting better and better.

When I don't pick, I got to sleep with my skin feeling calm, even if I have a spot on it. I just feels smoother and healthier. It's a much nicer feeling to go to sleep to.

I also realized that as embarrassing as it is to go out with acne on my face, it's even more worse feeling to go out with picked spots. Acne is something that we can't really help, and I think most people we interact with each day don't really care or notice if we have spots - it happens. But if there are places on my face that I've obviously picked at, I think people will notice that more or think it is more strange than just a pimple.

These two points EXACTLY! My face has been alright for a good few years, after being on accutane. I still get bad spots, but they're nothing like they were. Anyway, I had a break out 3 or 4 weeks back, which spread like wildfire around my jaw/neck. It's been slowwwwly getting better, spots have been scabbing over, but there were these two bumps. They didn't hurt, didn't even look bad, but I just attacked them the other night. Today, THEY ARE AWFUL. Went to bed feeling like crap, just as I will tonight. I made them 90% worse than I needed to, where I should have just left them to dry up. And yes, tomorrow I have work (I'm a waiter...) so dealing with customers, face to face, and I am dreading it, because they have noticeably been picked and scratched and my god I should have left them.

I've taken a picture, which again made me feel awful, but I'm tempted to print it out or upload it somewhere I can see it if I ever feel that urge again.

My skin hasn't looked this good in awhile. Granted, it's not perfect. I still have a few spots I'm dealing with, but when I don't pick, I wake up with my skin looking calm and actually skin toned, as opposed to red and irritated.

I've been getting frustrated at times because I'd like to be seeing results sooner and faster, but I at least know that not picking can only improve my skin, not harm it. Hopefully once the spots that I have heal without me pushing bacteria around and into my skin by squeezing, the real healing will begin.

I've also noticed that any bumps I have FEEL much worse under my fingertips than they look in the mirror, oddly enough. When I'm bad and run my hands over my skin and feel a bump, I freak out and run to the mirror, only to discover that it's hardly visible at all. Just one more reason to keep my hands away from my face!

Anyone trying not to pick, be strong! I still have the urge to pick, especially when a bump is just hanging around forever. But my skin feels nicer and looks much nicer when I just let it be.